Eric Cantor Shocked By Defeat To David Brat; Polls Were Wrong

On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor shockingly lost the 7th District Republican primary to a college professor named David Brat, who is backed by the Tea Party.

In an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Sunday, Cantor said, “I don’t think anybody in the country thought that the outcome would be what it was and I think we’re going to be able to look back at this, and what seemed really bad at the time may turn out to be really good.” In the interview, Karl suggested that Laura Ingraham's attack on Cantor may have contributed to his defeat.

Cantor announced his resignation as the House Majority Leader on Wednesday. He will step down from his post on July 31.

Although Cantor was defeated, he remains optimistic and is still focused on his mission. The 51-year-old said that he will remain committed to the Republican party, even after leaving his post.

According to Ezra Klein of Vox, Cantor lost because voters supporting him did not show up to the polls. However, reports indicate otherwise, as the turnout of voters is actually higher than any recent congressional primary. It turns out that people turned up to vote, but they didn’t vote in favor of Cantor.

National Journal magazine interviewed John McLaughlin, Cantor’s pollster. McLaughlin said that they estimated that about 45,000 people would turn up to vote, but 65,000 were present. The incorrect estimate is the reason Cantor appeared to have a wide lead against his opponents at the end of May. Because of the far-off estimate, they also got the number of supporters they had wrong.

Cantor said that he has not ruled out the possibility of running in the future. “I believe after almost 23 years in public service that I can play a role and not just in elected office obviously but in the private sector,” he said.

House Republicans will vote on Thursday for their new majority leader. “I want a Republican to hold this seat, of course,” Cantor said.

Val Powell
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